Leethan Grandison, Outlook Youth Writer

Get to know your child's school, its aims and its attitude towards the values and beliefs you hold.This woman was seen with her children on Duke Street, downtown Kingston, Monday after school. Monday was the start of the new school year. - Norman Grindley/ Deputy Chief Photographer

As the human society becomes ever more complex, a good education takes on greater importance. In many situations, the amount of schooling needed to enable an adolescence to gain employment has become higher. Therefore, those who have mastered primary academic skills will have a better chance in the marketplace.

KEY TO GOOD EDUCATION

A sound education is the key but that raises the issue of helping children to do well in school. Often a key to a good education is having caring parents, who are supportive and are deeply involved in their children's education.

I recalled reading an article in a magazine some time ago, exploring the question of why some students do better than others in school. The conclusion was strong families who give students an edge in school. Such parents provide their children with loving attention and impart to them proper values. They give guidance and help them to set goals.

If memory serves me right, "you can't give proper guidance if you don't know what's going on at school" was a response from a parent. It is with this in mind and through research that I recommend that parents and children implement the following:

PARENTS

Try to help your children choose wholesome friends.

Be their best friend. They'll need all the mature friends they can get.

Get to know your child's school, its aims and its attitude towards the values and beliefs you hold.

Make sure your child gets sufficient sleep. Tired children do not learn well.

Take a deep interest in your child's homework. Read with him/her frequently. In school, your child will receive many assignments to prepare. Will him/her fulfil these? He/she probably will if you have taught him/her to care for responsibi-lities at home. An important way to do so is to assign daily routine chores. Then require that he/she fulfil these according to a specific schedule. Such training will take a lot of efforts on your part, but it will teach your children the sense of responsibility that they need in order to succeed in school and later in life.

Be acquainted with your child's teachers and try to build a good working relation with them.

You also need to monitor his/her eating habits. Junk foods can have an adverse effect on his/her concentration and ability.

Monitor and control the amount of television your child watches. Simple as it sounds, studies have shown that 20 hours or more hours of watching television for the week can have negative effects on a child's academic performances.

For the most interesting teen issues and styles read the Youthlink in the Tuesday Gleaner.